I’m writing this from the car – I apologize in advance for any typos. Don’t worry, I’m not blogging and driving at the same time.

Tonight I’ll be sleeping in Chicago, and tomorrow it’s on to Wisconsin. “Why Wisconsin,” you ask? Well, that’s a very good question. To a lot people from Pittsburgh, Wisconsin is just the place cheese comes from. And it’s true, Wisconsin does have very good cheese. But that’s not why I’m going. You see, Wisconsin also has the House on the Rock.

To many, House on the Rock might be nothing more than a tourist trap: a rich man’s folly, packed to the rafters with collections of strange and random things (including the world’s largest carousel), but to fans of Neil Gaiman it’s so much more. And this weekend, House on the Rock is playing host to about a thousand Gaiman fans for its American Gods weekend.

There’s a pivotal scene in American Gods where the main character, Shadow, along with a few Gods like Anansi, visit the house and ride the carousel. In real life, nobody ever gets to ride it – it’s very delicate, I suppose – but this weekend a few people will win rides. There are also panel discussions about mythology, a scavenger hunt, a question and answer session with Neil himself (squee!) and a masquerade ball.

I wish you all were coming with me, but since you’re not, why don’t you spend some time with Mr. Gaiman’s books?